At present a number of constructions of container lifter are available and most of these are designed to lift shipping type containers onto the tray of a truck or trailer unit from only one side of the vehicle. This has disadvantages in certain situations where extra effort is required to shift the vehicle into a position where loading and unloading is required. Another problem with container handling is that most current lifters are designed to carry fully loaded containers and as such are built structurally to withstand weights of up to 20 to 40 tonnes. These constructions of lifter are therefore very expensive to run and construct, and are unnecessary when containers are carried empty. Empty containers are carried very regularly from site to site or after use to a cleaning or repair facility.
An object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple inexpensive mechanism for loading and unloading a vehicle from either side, preferably, the mechanism can also enable the stacking of containers.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description which is given by way of example.